Method of producing billets from steel scrap



Aug. 20, 1940. A. PATERSON 2,211,984

' METHOD OF PRODUCING BILLETS FROM STEEL SCRAP Filed Oct 1 1938 INVENTOR ATTO R N EY rammed any. new sn er;

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In the treatment of steel scrap for the preparation of billets for hot rolling two practices have heretofore been usual. One practice has been to melt the scrap in an hearth furnace and then-roll it into steelbiliets. another practice has been to form a bale in which the scrap is placed between iron slabs and to heat the bale to a temperature at which the scrap is a spongy plastic mass, the bale then being rolled as a billet into a merchant bar or the like. Both of these practices involve the use of costly installations and theloss of heat by radiation as a factor to be overcome in the rolling of the scrap into billets.

' This invention relates to an improved method for forming billets from steel scrap and its objects are to eliminate the use of the costly installations heretofore necessary, to eliminate all problems arising from heat treatment and the loss of heat by radiation, and to produce billets from scrap by extremely simple and economical procedure.

Fo'rthe accomplishment of these objects the.

invention proposes a method-for the cold treatment of scrap to, reduce it to billets suitable for hot or finish rolling into merchant bars. The method is of'particular value in the utilization of sheet scrap such as is obtained from automobile bodies and fenders.

Thesingle figure or the drawing illustrates diagrammatically apparatus suitable for carrying out the method.

The preliminary reduction of the scrap into the form of a suitable bale (resembling an ingot) is preferably efiected by a suitable press 5, i. e.

mechanical or hydraulic. By the action of such a press the scrap is reduced to a stable density, that is to say a density of the order of 40% of that of solid steel, and is formed into a bale 6 suitable as to shape and dimensions for the subsequentcold rolling treatment. The balsto be cold rolled into billets may, of course, be made of any suitable shape, 1. e., dimensions, for example, ten or twelve inches square and of any desired length; The density to whlchthe scrap is reduced by the press is such that the resultant ingot-like bale will be amply stable for effective cold rolling into the form-oi billets or slabs.

The bales resultant from the preliminary re-, duction of the scrap, and having the above described characteristics, are then reduced cold in a rolling mill 7 of any suitable construction for the purpose in view and in passes of any suitable number and form to a suitable billet section 8 which may later be heated in a furnace 9 and rolled in a mill Ill into merchantbars. Instead of a billet section thebales may similarly be reduced to slabs for flat rolling. A great advantage of cold rolling thecompressed bale is the fact that the bales can follow each other in continuous sequence through the reducing passes, thus ap proximating the efliciency of continuous mills. Another valuable advantage is that the factor of the loss of heat by radiation is eliminated. Thecold rolling mill concentrates its power of compression at any moment upon a surface of the bale which is a small fraction of its total surface which was acted uponin the press and in this way produces a billet or slab of much greater density than can be attained in the formation of the bale by the press.

The cold rolling of the bales substantially increases the density of the scrap and produces billets suitable in form and character for hot finish rolling into merchant bars and which may have a density as high as the order of 80% of the site stability of. form during the heating for hot rolling, and the billets so characterized being useful for the production of articles which do not require engineering specifications, e. g. nuts, bolts, forming steels, toys, table legs, and the like. 7

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of producing billets frompieces of steel scrap which consists in enacting a pre-I liminary reduction of the scrap at substantially ambient temperature to the form of an ingot-like bale, the bale having a density of the order of 40% of the density of solid steel, suchdensity being suflicient to form a self-sustaining mass density of solid steel, such density insuring requi- -of the bale, and then rolling the bale at substantially ambient temperature, with resultant substantial increase of the density of the bale, into a billet of suitable form and density for hot finish rolling in the production-of articles of steel which do not require engineering specifications.

2. The method of producing billets frompieces of steel scrap which consists in compressing the scrap at substantially ambient temperature to efi'ect the preliminary reduction thereof to theform oi an ingot-like bale, the bale'having. a density of the order of 401% of the density of solid steel, such'density being sufflcient to form a selfsustalning mass and to insure stability in the snbsequent rolling of the bale, and then rolling the bale at substantially ambient temperature. with resultant substantial increase 01 the density of the bale, into a billet of suitable tormend densityier hot finish rolling in the production of articles of steel which do not require engineering specifications. i

3. The method of producing biliets from pieees of steel scrap and forming the billets into articles of steel which do not'require eriginring. speci-' flcations, which method cbnslstsin compressing the screp at substantielly -a.1nbient temperature to effect the preliminary reduction thereei to the formo! aningot-like bale, the bale having a. density or the order'oi 40% otthe density of *solid steel, suchide'nsity being suiflbient to form a seli-snstaining mass and to insure stability in the subsequent rolling of the bale, rolling the bale 1 at substantially ambient :temperetnre; ;wlth re-l sultgnt increase in its density, into 1a. billet, and

thenhqt rolllngth'e billettda'flnishedsection; 1

PATERSON. 

